Violence continued between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia on Monday, with two Hezbollah fighters and one Israeli soldier killed in attacks.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said two people had been killed in an Israeli attack on Houla and later Hezbollah said two of its fighters had been killed there.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on its Telegram channel that it had “struck Hezbollah terrorists in the area of Houla in southern Lebanon.” It also hit a launcher and military structures in the areas of Ayta ash Shab and Hanine, the IDF said.
It did not comment on casualties.
Hezbollah usually does not elaborate on when, where and how its members die, but said later in a statement said the dead were two of its fighters.
An Israeli soldier was killed and several others injured, one of them seriously, in a drone attack mounted on Monday from Lebanon across Israel’s northern border, an IDF spokesman said.
The 45-year-old soldier was a member of the IDF’s Desert Reconnaissance Battalion.
According to the spokesman, five drones armed with explosives were launched from bases operated by Hezbollah. Israel’s Iron Dome defence system intercepted three of them, but two managed to get through.
Hezbollah claimed several attacks on Israeli troops and military positions in northern Israel, including a drone strike on a base and an attack on Israeli soldiers. The militia said they were trying to “infiltrate” the Lebanese border.
Since the war in the Gaza Strip began more than 10 months ago, there have been daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon and other groups in the border area between the countries.
There were casualties on both sides, most of them members of Hezbollah.
